Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850 - 1891)

Sofia Kovalevskaya, mathematician and novelist, was the first woman to hold a university chair in 19th-century Europe and the first woman on the editorial staff of a mathematical journal.

Sofia Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (Russian: Со́фья Васи́льевна Ковале́вская), born Sofia Vasilyevna Korvin-Krukovskaya, was a Russian mathematician who made noteworthy contributions to analysis, partial differential equations and mechanics.

Known for
A pioneer for women in mathematics around the world Frst woman to obtain a doctorate (in the modern sense) in mathematics First woman appointed to a full professorship in Northern Europe and one of the first women to work for a scientific journal as an editor. According to historian of science Ann Hibner Koblitz, Kovalevskaia was "the greatest known woman scientist before the twentieth century"

Cauchy–Kowalevski theorem

Kovalevskaya top

Her sister was the socialist Anne Jaclard.

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Works based on
Sofya Kovalevskaya, 1956 film directed by Iosef Shapiro, starring Yelena Yunger, Lev Kosolov and Tatyana Sezenyevskaya.

Berget på månens baksida ("A Hill on the Dark Side of the Moon"), 1983 film directed by Lennart Hjulström, starring Gunilla Nyroos as Sofja Kovalewsky and Bibi Andersson as Anne Charlotte Edgren-Leffler, Duchess of Cajanello, and sister to Gösta Mittag-Leffler.

Sofya Kovalevskaya, 1985 movie for TV directed by Azerbaijani director Ayan Shakhmaliyeva, starring Yelena Safonova as Sofia.

Little Sparrow: A Portrait of Sophia Kovalevsky, 1983 biography by Don H. Kennedy, Ohio University Press

"Beyond the Limit: The Dream of Sofya Kovalevskaya," 2002 biographical novel by mathematician and educator Joan Spicci, is an historically accurate portrayal of her early married years and quest for an education. It is based in part on 88 of Sofia's letters, which the author translated from Russian to English.

Against the Day, 2006 novel by Thomas Pynchon was speculated before release to be based on the life of Sofia, but in the finished novel she appears as a minor character.

"Too Much Happiness" 2009, short story by Alice Munro, published in the August 2009 issue of Harper's Magazine features Sofia as a main character. It was later published in a collection of the same name.